Summer is for Systems

On vacation, I stumbled into a used book store and found an old book on counting cards and winning at blackjack. I noticed there was an entire chapter about what makes a good card counting system, so I purchased the book.

According to Richard Canefield and BlackJack Your Way to Riches, a good card counting system:

1. Has to be reasonable simple.
2. Has to be easy to learn.
3. Needs to be versatile.
4. Needs to be up to date.
5. Has to work.

As I read this book on blackjack, I couldn’t help but think about how many churches are lacking in the area of systems. Pastors and church leaders usually default to communicating vision and let someone else figure out how to make it work.

But it’s systems that help a church accomplish it’s vision. Systems trump passion every day.

It’s strategy that make things work.  Ideas without strategy impact nobody.

Coming up with all these systems can be daunting (or boring), but there is something that can jump start the process.

It’s called Docs and Forms – a collection of 120+ editable documents. So far this year, more than 200 pastors, church planters and church leaders have grabbed this highly practical resource.  Consider this:

1. They are extremely simple.  If you can cut and paste, you can benefit from these documents and forms.
2. They are easy to use.  A volunteer can be the point person.
3. They are versatile and will improve ALL of your ministries.  From children’s ministry to the worship service, there’s stuff that will make an immediate difference.
4. They are up to date.   There aren’t any outdated strategies – this stuff is being used in churches across the world TODAY.
5. They work. Nobody has EVER asked for their money back.

When you download the file and unzip the folders, you’ll find tons of documents and spreadsheets to help you create necessary staffing policies, organize your ministries and service planning, and get your financial systems up to speed. There are job descriptions for volunteers, employee evaluations for staff members, and simple facility procedures.

And the summer is a great time to work on this stuff. Start with one or two areas, tweak a couple of these documents and get things running smoother.

Grab Docs and Forms here and work ON your church, not just IN it.